Architecture, an unfolding of routes

It could have been just another showcase villa in the Po Valley provinces. Instead the client, a young businessman from Bologna, had the foresight to give carte blanche to the architects. “The only input was that the home should be dynamic,” explained architect Simone Gheduzzi, who together with Nicola Rimondi and Gabriele Sorichetti make up the practice Diverserighestudio, a Bologna-based design workshop already honoured at the Triennale in Milan in an exhibition entitled “Projects by Young Italian Architects”. “We realised immediately that it should be a different kind of house: narrating rather than showcasing. This allowed us to adopt a different kind of perspective.” Consequently, the architects were given a high degree of freedom during the initial stages, and decisions were shared as the work proceeded. The client’s brief was for a contemporary structure designed to be lived to the full in terms of both time and space. “The geometric shape of the house is a metaphor for the life that is experienced inside,” continues the description of the project. “The architecture of the house was conceived as an unfolding of routes; the movement from one activity to the next became the generating principle behind the entire project. This concept is expressed through a series of three-dimensional relationships that enable the spaces to be experienced as a continuous sequence of viewpoints.” The result is an irregular volume with approximately 180 square metres of living space on three staggered levels. “The double volume and the fragmentation of the stairway become key elements: they unite spaces on different levels, often by means of just a few steps, forcing the user to adopt a dynamic lifestyle, moving from one space to another and then yet another. The house, supported by a conventional loadbearing structure, is contained within a stone shell, a material that continues on the roof, accompanying its movement in relation to the various sides of the site.” The façade is clad with irregular strips of natural slate, the same material used on the roof. The material chosen for the exterior paving is the Doghe di quercia ceramic tile collection from Panaria (deck version), which harmonises perfectly with the contemporary design.
“As in the most traditional houses in the plain north of Bologna, the fireplace remains as the heart of the interior, and – significantly – the first-floor relaxation area faces onto it, taking it as an internal visual landmark. According to the wishes of the client, the relaxation area was conceived as an observation point, offering views onto the internal living area, the garden and the surrounding countryside and sky. It is a space designed like the interior of a camera, representing the centre of all that is visible, of the negative. Light penetrates from the shutter-like windows located on the walls and ceiling and traces out a line made up of continuously changing cones of light.”